Many Prostrations and the Happiest of Birthdays

I just turned 35 on Friday, 27 November 2009. As those of you who may have been following my rants here and on Facebook will realise, I've been going through something of a "third-life" crisis. It's like I realise that after 35-years, my contribution to life has been less than zero. I mean, I had one nasty excuse of marriage and a failed attempt at fatherhood to a little girl whom I love dearly. In terms of my career, I have gotten....well, no where really. I mean, I managed to help a few communities brand themselves but other than that, I don't even get myself onto the front page of Googling my name - the other two Tang Li's happen to be a Sung Dynasty Painter and a very sexy Go Player from China.

So, what can one do other than wallow in misery when you realise that you're life's achievements are pretty shit? Well, my other half and her little boy decided that I was going to change my frame of mind and actually be happy on my birthday and feel good about myself. Funny thing about Joyce is that she not only tells me I have talent and value, she actually makes me believe it.

Anyway, she couldn't get a babysitter for the little boy and so we ended up going out together. First thing he did when he saw me was to hand me a birthday card that he had made and then he started to laugh. I'm really touched, this was the only birthday card that I had recieved and something in me started to feel really good. We had a plan to do photo taking in Chinatown by a rickshaw but didn't quite pan out that way. It rained and then the Little Man decided that we needed to visit the "Tooth Relic" temple, which for non-Singaporeans is Buddhist Temple in the heart of Singapore's Chinatown.

Little Man decided that we had to see Buddha's and this temple had a lot of them. Been a while since I actually entered a Buddhist temple and said prayers and I suppose it was fitting that the Little Man decided that it was time for me to get in touch with my better nature. Ended up donating money to the temple and he actually got his mother and I paying our respects to the many Buddha's that resided in the temple.

Later on, Mother and I decided to sit out the foul weather in a cafe and then Mummy decided to take photos of me. Little Man sat in a corner playing with play dough but after a while decided that we needed him in the photo taking session. I think Mummy felt I could actually had some inner qualities that might be captured in photography and I'll leave people to judge on my Facebook profile. Personally, I think the better photos came when Little Man entered the picture.

After photo taking, Little Man decided enough was enough and then wanted to go to...the temple and so we had another round of prostrations and offering of joss sticks.

Later that evening we deposited the Little Man back with his grandmother and she decided to buy me a romantic dinner. I'm not sure if the earlier prostrations had anything to do with it but somehow, during the dinner the magic that brought us together became exceedingly overwhelming. She got the guitarist to play Happy Birthday and then I requested he play the most romantic song he had. When the sounds of "My Valentine" started, it felt only right that I picked her up and we danced slowly around the restaurant. Ended up with the house applauding us and the musician coming to thank us for lightening up the house.

We had the most amazing evening evening together and we ended up holding each other till the sun rose. I don't know what it was, but this was really the happiest of birthdays that I could have had. Two days later, we're both talking about the magic that brought us together and I don't know what I did that I could have someone enter my life and make it feel so good and hopeful. When I should have been feeling down, she came in and made me feel so alive and so ready to take on the world. I mean, I've been in love before but I've never been so consumed by something so good before.